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The age of networks: “The world is changing right before our eyes”

People today no longer seem to place their trust in traditional political or business leaders, companies, and institutions. Instead, people increasingly are placing their trust in networks.

At least, that is the underlying thesis of The Seventh Sense, the latest book by Kissinger Associates’ Vice Chair Joshua Cooper Ramo. (Ramo is also the author of The New York Times best-seller The Age of The Unthinkable.)

In a networked world, according to Ramo, what counts are connections. Connecting one object (or node) to another changes the nature of both objects. Equally important, the more connected a network is, the more powerful it becomes. The more powerful it becomes, the more people connect to (and use) it. And the more people connect to and use a particular network, the more powerful that network continues to become.

This is the order in which relationships and the power that derives from those relationships have always been arranged.